LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS Forum

[Giddy-Up]

Reasonable man thinks he is the sole success story from a shitty school. There are tons of us doing better than him.

[reasonable_man]

Reasonable man thinks he is the sole success story from a shitty school. There are tons of us doing better than him.

Actually - I don't really think I said that... I'm aware of a few others that have done just as well, if not better. However, its rare and it happens less and less as time goes on.

As for the chip comment - I'm sure that I do have a chip on my shoulder to some extent. When I started law school in 2005, the evidence of the law school scam was not exactly as strong as it is now. People still believed (foolishly) that you could attend a low-ranked law school and come out and find one of the mystical mid-law jobs that payed $80K to start. So I guess having to have worked as hard as I did to get to where I am is a bit of a shot to the old resolve. At the end of the day, I'd have done it again, just differently.

[Tls2016]

Reasonable man thinks he is the sole success story from a shitty school. There are tons of us doing better than him.

Actually - I don't really think I said that... I'm aware of a few others that have done just as well, if not better. However, its rare and it happens less and less as time goes on.

As for the chip comment - I'm sure that I do have a chip on my shoulder to some extent. When I started law school in 2005, the evidence of the law school scam was not exactly as strong as it is now. People still believed (foolishly) that you could attend a low-ranked law school and come out and find one of the mystical mid-law jobs that payed $80K to start. So I guess having to have worked as hard as I did to get to where I am is a bit of a shot to the old resolve. At the end of the day, I'd have done it again, just differently.

Just FYI:

People still think they can just make 80k. This is from Tuesday and was posted by a person who is a biglaw paralegal. GPA 3.8

Re: The usual: Chapman, UCI, Loyola, Pepperdine
PostTue Feb 02, 2016 2:21 pm

Thanks everyone for the advice! I think it took 2 years for me to get to 163 (so I guess "probability" of my score going up is very low?). I graduated in 2013. Yes, it makes more sense to retake and spend 1 or even 2 years to study, considering how long I will live (30+ years) LOL. But, I like the idea of attending law school NOW and joining the fellow 0Ls. Not looking for a fantastic Big law/Salary. I currently earn 40K before tax and after 3 years, I wish to earn somewhere around 75-80K with a JD. Just wishing that I can get more from UCI (I will deposit right away with 90K scholarship at UCI). Although I have not seen schools that offer 20K+ after negotiation...

[reasonable_man]

Reasonable man thinks he is the sole success story from a shitty school. There are tons of us doing better than him.

I didn't notice your post with your current stats. So I guess you're just going to take a shot at me but not put up your info.

That's cool.

[Danger Zone]

Reasonable man thinks he is the sole success story from a shitty school. There are tons of us doing better than him.

I didn't notice your post with your current stats. So I guess you're just going to take a shot at me but not put up your info.

That's cool.

Reasonable man never not turning the conversation into a dick measuring contest

[El Pollito]

"put up your info" lol

[reasonable_man]

Reasonable man thinks he is the sole success story from a shitty school. There are tons of us doing better than him.

I didn't notice your post with your current stats. So I guess you're just going to take a shot at me but not put up your info.

That's cool.

Reasonable man never not turning the conversation into a dick measuring contest

I don't know if I want to go down that road.... is 11 inches good?

But seriously - if you're gonna hate... Then jump in and be honest... I don't really think my original post was all that douchetastic. I think I've been guilty of way worse over the years.

[Magic Hat]

It's sort of surprising how many first year associates there are in this thread

[Youppi]

1. Legislative Assistant, U.S. House of Representatives
2. 2+ years in this position
3. Washington, D.C.
4. $53k.

This obviously does not require a law degree or bar exam passage, but many Members with law degrees prefer to hire lawyers for the top positions.

I am aiming to work my way up to legislative director or counsel at a committee over the next couple of years.

Depending on the outcome of the presidential election, I could consider an executive agency.

[jacklsat]

Is there anyone originally from another country working in USA? I'm from Asia, and I really want to know the future circumstances of international employees.

[Magic Hat]

1. Midlaw.
2. Fifth year associate. 2.5 years here. Government previously.
3. Secondary Market, North East.
4. 120k.

[zot1]

1. Midlaw.
2. Fifth year associate. 2.5 years here. Government previously.
3. Secondary Market, North East.
4. 120k.

Why did you leave government?

[reasonable_man]

1. Midlaw.
2. Fifth year associate. 2.5 years here. Government previously.
3. Secondary Market, North East.
4. 120k.

Why did you leave government?

I'm going to guess... To earn 120k

[zot1]

1. Midlaw.
2. Fifth year associate. 2.5 years here. Government previously.
3. Secondary Market, North East.
4. 120k.

Why did you leave government?

I'm going to guess... To earn 120k

Hmm you can earn 120k in government.

[Giddy-Up]

IN DC, you are making 120k as a midlevel GS-14, or a top level GS-13. GS-15 tops out at 160k. If you go SES, you can go even higher.

[reasonable_man]

1. Midlaw.
2. Fifth year associate. 2.5 years here. Government previously.
3. Secondary Market, North East.
4. 120k.

Why did you leave government?

I'm going to guess... To earn 120k

Hmm you can earn 120k in government.

I get that - future earning potential is better in midlaw though - so I'd assume that could have something to do with it.

[Magic Hat]

1. Midlaw.
2. Fifth year associate. 2.5 years here. Government previously.
3. Secondary Market, North East.
4. 120k.

Why did you leave government?

I'm going to guess... To earn 120k

Hmm you can earn 120k in government.

I get that - future earning potential is better in midlaw though - so I'd assume that could have something to do with it.

bingo! plus i was not in federal government and it would have taken me a loooong time to make 120k where i was.

my government position was a training ground and i never intended to stay there. for my practice area, service in one of a few government agencies is essentially a pre-req.

my government job also let me have a side practice and it got to the point where i had to choose one. if i stayed in government i would not have been able to significantly grow my practice any further and i was getting to the point where i needed a real office, real office equipment and a staff. to have to bear that financial burden while essentially being limited in how much i could grow revenue made no sense to me. being a part time private practice attorney also hindered my ability to attract bigger and better clients.

since jumping to the private sector, my "practice" has grown 4x in size, my salary is steadily increasing and i am working on more significant and interesting projects (partners' and my own).

[zot1]

bingo! plus i was not in federal government and it would have taken me a loooong time to make 120k where i was.

my government position was a training ground and i never intended to stay there. for my practice area, service in one of a few government agencies is essentially a pre-req.

my government job also let me have a side practice and it got to the point where i had to choose one. if i stayed in government i would not have been able to significantly grow my practice any further and i was getting to the point where i needed a real office, real office equipment and a staff. to have to bear that financial burden while essentially being limited in how much i could grow revenue made no sense to me. being a part time private practice attorney also hindered my ability to attract bigger and better clients.

since jumping to the private sector, my "practice" has grown 4x in size, my salary is steadily increasing and i am working on more significant and interesting projects (partners' and my own).

In that case, that's a good reason

[Magic Hat]

bingo! plus i was not in federal government and it would have taken me a loooong time to make 120k where i was.

my government position was a training ground and i never intended to stay there. for my practice area, service in one of a few government agencies is essentially a pre-req.

my government job also let me have a side practice and it got to the point where i had to choose one. if i stayed in government i would not have been able to significantly grow my practice any further and i was getting to the point where i needed a real office, real office equipment and a staff. to have to bear that financial burden while essentially being limited in how much i could grow revenue made no sense to me. being a part time private practice attorney also hindered my ability to attract bigger and better clients.

since jumping to the private sector, my "practice" has grown 4x in size, my salary is steadily increasing and i am working on more significant and interesting projects (partners' and my own).

In that case, that's a good reason

Indeed and I have never second guessed it. I love my job.

[reasonable_man]

Good for you. Keep killing it. Do they cut you in on a percentage of billables collected on files you generate? That was a big thing for me when I made my final move - my prior firm did not offer any revenue sharing and I refuse to ever be in that position again (unless I'm an equity partner obviously).

[Magic Hat]

Good for you. Keep killing it. Do they cut you in on a percentage of billables collected on files you generate? That was a big thing for me when I made my final move - my prior firm did not offer any revenue sharing and I refuse to ever be in that position again (unless I'm an equity partner obviously).

Thanks.

Yes 15 percent. They aren't stingy about sharing origination credit either. A partner brought in a one off client and immediately became fed up with him and passed him off to me. Fast forward about 8 months and the guy calls me with a potential new matter requiring a bit of regulatory DD and shopping the ultimate product to potential purchasers. All of which I did and the partner actively avoided. Last week it comes time to open a matter and the partner gave me the credit.

[ticklemesilly]

- In house, SF/SV
- 6 yrs out
- Cash: $150k base, up to $15k bonus
- Equity: Can vary quite a bit. Had $50k of RSUs vest in 2015 (was granted $100k ish in RSUs in 2015).
- No nights/weekends

transactional, I assume?

[Anonymous User]

- In house, SF/SV
- 6 yrs out
- Cash: $150k base, up to $15k bonus
- Equity: Can vary quite a bit. Had $50k of RSUs vest in 2015 (was granted $100k ish in RSUs in 2015).
- No nights/weekends

transactional, I assume?

I was transactional when in biglaw. Now I do a bit of everything, although I depend heavily on outside counsel for areas where I have very little interest or background, like litigation or data security.

[Anonymous User]

1) PDs Office in large west coast city
2) 2nd year
3) 88k. With set 4k(approximate) annual raises
4) 8% matching 401k/457b
5) Defined pension benefit
6) 8:00 - 4:00/5:00

[Anonymous User]

- General practice firm / lots of estate planning + quite a bit of civil litigation and crim defense with some family law and other stuff thrown in
- Six years, four as an associate and two as partner
- Small (<50k people) midwest city that is otherwise in a rural setting
- Profits vary by year but last year partner pay was $230k (realistic range would be $175k - $280k any given year, tops at $350k if we hit a big plaintiff's judgment). Benefits package is fair to average.
- Billed 1325 hours last year plus fairly substantial flat-rate fee work, probably equivalent to 1600 billable hour workload

That is really good money for a small town and those types of hours. Congrats!

Just saw this when someone else bumped thread. Thank you! I'm killing it this year so far, which means I've been working more and the work/life balance is a little off, but at least I make more when I'm slaving away. I'm going to bump up my hourly rate and retainers, maybe turn away a few family law cases and hope the workload becomes more manageable in the next few months.

I think my practice is just about perfect for me, but one bad thing about it is that when you're not busy, you're worried about not making enough money, then when you are busy, you're worried about becoming too busy. It's like correcting and over-correcting on an icy road and can be hard to get things moving steady and straight sometimes. Sorry for the mini-rant.